Counting my Blessings

Hello Lovelies,

 thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on my last post. I know mum will be touched and cheered by them when she finally gets home.  I'm keeping positive and believing that the excellent care she is getting and her own positive attitude  means she will make a full recovery, though I know it will take time.

 I still have a lot to be thankful for. My boys are old enough not to need me too much and they have been enjoying quality time with their dad, as well as lovely family and helpful friends.

It's also such a blessing that the hospital is only a few miles from home, making visiting easier.

I'm so thankful that it's summer as I can get out in my garden , which is the best therapy for me (Just don't mention the lack of housework!).

 It also means there are long and........ dare I say it .......warm....even hot! days to enjoy.

 I love being at home with the back door and the windows open wide, a breeze blowing through the house and the sounds of summer drifting in. But I also love to get out and soak up natures beauty .

On Sunday morning, before visiting time, we headed out on a family bike ride.

You can just see Mr BM in the distance, the boys are ahead of him and I'm lagging behind, too busy stopping to take pictures of the scenery ...........

The frothy, lacy cow parsley of May and early June is now slowly disappearing,  the statuesque Hog Weed , with it's big flower heads, it replacing it..........

I love it's flowers and the way these wonderfully structural stems remain through winter, when there is little else to look at...........

You don't want to pick this stuff though as it's toxic. Just look and enjoy :0)

The countryside is so green and pretty.........

Probably due to all the rain we have had.......... the going was a bit tricky in parts........

I always love to see farm gate produce.......

And the wild flowers around the natural pond are so pretty at the moment..........

Buttercups, Daisies , pink and white Clover, along with delicate grasses that wave in the breeze........

It's such a nostalgic sight that never fails to remind me of my countryside childhood.........

The buttercups are particularly lovely this year . For more buttercup appreciation do take a look at Lucy's POST, that's if you haven't already :0)
And HERE are some more stunning Yorkshire Dales buttercups.

All the flowers in this post are commonplace, so easy to take for granted, but so wonderfully pretty when you take the time to stop and look...........

Hope you have the time to make the most of warm summer days if you are in the northern hemisphere.Or if you are somewhere that's cold right now I hope these images have cheered you.
Jacquie x

♥ 52 Weeks of Happy ♥ 24/52

Hello Lovelies,

thank you so much for your kind comments and prayers for my Mum. She is still in hospital and I will be much happier when she is stronger.

So, once again, I'm blogging to distract myself  and there have been some happy moments despite the anxiety.

1. Picking a few of the first roses in my garden and bringing them indoors to enjoy in  bud vases......

2. Water bombs. As soon as we got a bit of warm weather ( and there hasn't been a lot ) the boys and their cousins enjoyed filling loads of these mini balloons with water then divided into two teams to do battle, throwing them at each other, and getting soaked when they burst. I always love to watch them playing together and this was pretty hilarious..........

3. Long days. Going backwards and forwards to the hospital twice a day this week has been helped a lot by the light evenings and lovely summer scenery.



I stopped momentarily to take these shots of the beautiful evening light........

and this was the view from the hospital window at sunset one evening when I stayed quite late ( taken 9.30 ish I think)

4. Mums sketch book. She brought this round for me a few weeks back and I've been meaning to share it with you lovelies. Mum just said it might be useful for me as it had some blank pages I could draw or paint on......

But when I opened it up I was struck by how gorgeous her watercolour sketches were. Drawn and coloured twenty years ago and  probably seen by no one except herself..........

I've got lots of Mum's finished paintings on my walls , which I love, but I think there is something wonderfully fresh about these simple sketches .......

I've posted them all as I couldn't choose a favourite......

When I asked , Mum said she just drew them " nicely" in pencil then added the watercolour.......

Many feature water , I'm sure it's trickier to do than it looks here........

I do love to see people in a picture......

And subjects with lots of sky........

And you know how much I love pretty houses..........

This one is a bit different, no pencil lines, just paint..........

Mum still often heads out in her little car to find delightful subjects like this to inspire her.......

Many of these sketches will have been used as reference for a "proper" painting. But I think they are happy and charming as they are.

I hope you lovelies enjoy a week with many happy moments.
Jacquie x

My Garden :: June

Hello Lovelies, 

here is my mosaic of flowers currently looking pretty in our garden......

top to bottom left to right they are 

1. Allium 2.Geranium 3. Ox eye Daisy

4. Lilly 5. Oriental Poppy 6. Aquilegia

7. Geum 8. Perennial Cornflower 9. Chive 

And here is how my border is looking at the moment.......

The Euphorbia continues to look stunning and the geraniums are in flower adding shades of pink to the still dominant green. Welsh Poppies add a splash of yellow. In the distance you can see the veg patch is filling up .There are potatoes in pots and Sunflowers are growing up the side of the shed.
 Here are APRIL and MAY for comparison.

I'm writing this post today to try and distract myself from worrying about my Mum, who has had a big operation this week. I'm hoping and praying that she makes a speedy recovery.
Jacquie x

♥ 52 Weeks of Happy ♥ 23/52

Hello Lovelies,

 it's been a wonderfully  sunny week and I've already shared many happy things it contained in my three previous post...thank you for your happy comments :0)

Here are four more :-

1. Visiting Patchings Art Festival with my Mum on Thursday ( Mums treat , thank you Mum ).

 These tents are full of Artists and Crafts people displaying and selling their work, as well as demonstrations to watch and workshops were anybody could join in, more on that at the end of this post !

Soooooooo much talent and enthusiasm . It was very inspiring......

Loved the summery landscape we drove through too.......

2. Making a very small purchase at the Festival....small  cards of  lovely watercolours by THIS Artist.
I couldn't resist this view of Ilfracoombe, where we enjoyed a lovely visit last year.......

And I loved this colourful impression of Southwold....somewhere I've never been but hope to, one day.....

3. Wearing a summery skirt,  painting my toenails  and walking barefoot on the grass..... summer is here :0)

Sorry, not the nicest feet !

4. Having a go at painting at Patchings ......this is the first time I've ever tried painting with Acrylics and I loved it. The intense colours are just wonderful.

This was done in an hour so it could probably do with more work but it was a fun experience and so helpful to have an enthusiastic teacher to tell you exactly what to do. There were about fifteen of us in the class , all strangers to me, but everybody was very friendly.....I thought it was a great bargain too ( £2.50 including materials).........

I'm sure I wouldn't have had the confidence to even give this a try last year but all your kind comments about my drawings have changed that...thank you :0)

The lady who taught this session was Jenny Muncaster , do have a look at her great website.  I just love so many of her paintings, particularly this and  this .

And as you can see I'm still making granny squares....I'm up to 23....nearly half way ( I need 49 ).

This week has not been without its share of sadness and stress, despite how my blog appears , but it's such a blessing to have this space to focus on the positive and celebrate the little things.

Hope you Lovelies have had some happy moments in your week

Jacquie x

The Evening Sunlight.........

................ is so beautiful.

I don't have time to write many words today, so I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves........

Date = 06.06.13
Time = 8pm
Location = our front garden
Me = happy

Jacquie x

Sunny Days :: part 2

Hello Lovelies,

on Monday I found myself with some time on my hands in a place where I used to live , but don't visit very often these days. 

There is a nature reserve here which has changed and been improved in recent years so I decided to pay it a visit and go for a run. It now has this wonderful visitor centre so I headed there first, to use the conveniences .....

On the walk way over the water I noticed the Coot feeding her babies through the fence.....it was like she had them in a play pen :0).......

A lovely old couple told me all about her and showed me the nest. They are obviously regular visitors and very knowledgeable . Apparently it's quiet at the moment as most birds are on their nests.

As I left the visitor centre I was surprised to see a working barge travelling through the water. I knew this area has been developed from disused  quarry workings, but I thought maybe they were just doing some work to improve the site further.........

Though it's very flat, the site is a series of islands so you get a great elevated view every time you go over a bridge........



As I ran along I loved the glimpses of water through the trees.......

And spotted my first Dog Rose this year........

It was so peaceful , the clear blue sky reflected in the water.........

I decided to leave the reserve at this point and jog along some pretty pavements......

Ooooooh, a subject to draw ? I adored this painted house against the bluest sky.

The village cricket pitch was beautiful too........

Heading back into the reserve the contrast with the manicured lawns was striking........

But this site  is very well maintained too, with wide paths that offered cooling shade from the sun.......

As I progressed further I became aware of a constant rumbling noise, and when I got to this bridge I worked out what it was .......

Across the water I could see some sort of processing plant..........Oh, that's where the barge was going.

I decided to hang around on the bridge and see if it appeared....would it come from this direction?........

Or was it at the plant already, hidden by the trees ?

Just when I started to give up hope , it appeared..........

So heavily loaded with gravel that it looked in danger of sinking to me.........

I love the ripples it created in the still, sunlit water.

It sailed beneath the bridge and I dashed to the other side to get another picture.......

I've since found out that the whole reserve is owned by the quarry company, who still quarry close by , but they have supported this areas development into a beautiful haven for wildlife.......

This was turning out to be a very stop, start sort of run.....not great training but did I care......no, it would be a shame to rush past all the beauty (and interesting industry) on such a perfect day.

Round the bend I stopped again at this little meadow..........

The ox eye daisies were looking so pretty........

as was the clover...........

Though I was a bit concerned to see only a very few bees and butterflies.

The water was so clear and inviting..........

As was this shady bench, but I resisted and pressed on..........

After a while I heard a now familiar sound.......the barge was passing again and there was another bridge up ahead, if I hurried up I might be able to get another close up view.........

Yes..... panting I snapped this picture and when I looked at it afterwards I was struck by how high the now unladen barge sat in the water..........

This reserve is such a great haven for  water birds, who don't seem the mind the passing "traffic".
I was happy to see some more baby birds before I left , this time Canada Geese and their goslings.....

I love the light in this photo and it was a perfect day for my visit.

When I was younger I was more often  lured by the retail park that's close to here , but nowadays , when the weather is kind, this sort of place seems just wonderful.
Jacquie x